BrookLyn's Journey (22 page)

“I don’t want you to cry anymore,” Gabby said as she covered
BrookLyn
up with her large, white
,
plush bathrobe dropping
the
towel to the floor.

“I can’t promise you that
,
because my heart is full. I’m carrying eighteen years of fear and pain
.
”
BrookLyn
pull
ed
the bathrobe closed.

“Well, I can promise you that the rest of this weekend is going to be all that you’ve ever dreamt of and more.”

“As long as we don’t have to leave the house, I’m good.”

“We are going to stay here on the
four-hundred
block of
Fiftieth
Street drinking in the love that we share. No need to even walk out of the front door
.
”

“That sounds good
—
better than Patio Road.”

“So, no more tears?”

“I’ll do my best
.
”
BrookLyn wiped her eyes with the sleeve of the bathrobe and put a smile on her face.

She
was glad
they
didn’t have a reason to leave until
she
had to go back home.
She
wished
she
never had to leave the bed
she
’d be spending the night in.
BrookLyn felt that she
had to slow
things
down
,
make sure this was what
she
wanted and then
she
would make the transition away from
her
parents
’
lives. However, tonight,
she
was going to make the best of it.

***

Gabby had a large backyard with an outdoor kitchen, a ceiling fan,
and
a heated in-ground pool with two slides and a waterfall. Part of the pool was inside the house and the other was outside.

BrookLyn
realized
she
hadn’t
really
noticed how nice everything was
when she was here the other night, or even earlier this evening
.
She
had been too
focused on the beauty within
Gabby to notice the beauty of her home.

Gabby’s
house
—
her
home
—
was warm and amazing
, just like she was
.
Each room was bright and welcoming.
From the finished basement with a movie theater to the video game room in the loft, her home was more than
BrookLyn
could imagine even in
her
wildest dreams.
She
didn’t know anything like it existed
until now
.

“This place is like going on vacation,”
BrookLyn
said.

“And
you don’t ever have to leave
,” Gabby offered.

BrookLyn smiled but didn’t respond.
She
went to sit in the backyard
and as she
lean
ed
her
head back on the
lawn chair
,
Gabby
appeared from the pool house
. BrookLyn looked up. Gabby was
wearing her version of a bathing suit
—
a pair of black gym shorts and a t-shirt showing exactly how fit she was.
BrookLyn
was beginning to believe that yes, she was what sexy looked like.
Gabby
dipped her toes into the water.
BrookLyn
didn’t feel like swimming
, she
only wanted to dip
her
toes in too.

“Do you know what time it is?”
BrookLyn
asked.

Gabby’s
smile spread across her face.
“When I am with you time stands still
.
”

Nice.
“So, I guess that means that you don’t care what time it is?”

“That’s exactly what I mean. We don’t have anywhere to be except lost inside our world together. Time doesn’t belong where I’m trying to take you.”

“I’m never sure what’s going to come out of your mouth but I always know it’s going to be deep,”
BrookLyn
said.
“
But
I didn’t bring my bathing suit
,
so I can’t join you.”

Gabby
rolled her eyes in an exaggerated gesture.
“You know
I have one for you
, right?
It
’s
over there
in the pool house on the table next to your towel.”

BrookLyn realized that not
h
ing should surprise her at this point.
Gabby
seemed to be prepared for everything. She
hopped up from
her
chair to
give Gabby a big
hug
.
“Thank you.”

Gabby
hugged
back
tight
ly
and
then planted little
kisse
s
along
the nape of
BrookLyn’s
neck
, sending the expected
chills up and down
her
back
as if
they lived there.

“I’m hopping in the pool. Don’t take too long
.
”
S
he
dived
in.

“I won’t
.
”
BrookLyn bounced off
to
the pool house.
I could get used to this
.
She
shook he
r head from side to side
,
trying to escape into Gabby’s world
.
The sound of
splash
ing water
behind her caused her to smil
e.

That smile dropped off as she noticed the
sky
-
blue bathing suit
that
Gabby
had
bought
her.
It was a bikini. She
had never worn a bikini before
. She awkwardly put it on, repeatedly twisting and turning, analyzing her image in the mirror. Finally
,
she
covered
her
self with a towel.
She
wasn’t comfortable
, but she stepped outside the pool house anyway.
She found
Gabb
y was out of the pool
now
.

She was stretching
,
doing some type of
yoga pose
and
BrookLyn watch
ed
her quietly
as she
twisted from side to side
.
Gabby then
walked over to the edge of the pool
.
She
took off her t-shirt revealing a
black sports bra and
her
bronze
-
colored body
.
It left BrookLyn feeling
breathless.

Then, as
if she knew she was being watched,
Gabby
paused so BrookLyn could
continue admiring
her sculpted body
.
She bent down
and
touch
ed
her toes
then
gracefully dove into the pool like
a well trained
Olympian.
The water splashed into the air announcing her arrival into the deep end
, and capturing BrookLyn’s heart entirely
.

Gabby
swam over to the edge of the pool.
She leaned
over,
looking up
at
BrookLyn.
“Look at you
,
looking all sexy and stuff
.
Even in a swim cap.
”

Gabby’s
eyes dr
ew
her
closer
and
BrookLyn
dropped
her
towel over
her
lap as
she
sat near the edge of the pool
and
the cool tiles
pressed against the back of her legs
.

Gabby
wrapped her arms around
BrookLyn
,
easing
her
into the water
.

“It’s a little cold
.
”
BrookLyn
grabb
ed onto
Gabby’s
shoulders.

“I’ll keep you warm
.
”
Gabby
pull
ed her into a warm embrace.

They
stood in each other’s arms getting lost in the moment.
BrookLyn
wrapped
her
legs around
Gabby’s
waist
, a part of her wanting the feelings she’d experienced earlier when they were together. Another part of her was afraid she might encourage
Gabby
to go too far.

“Gabby, I want to savor the moment. Promise me that you’ll wait for me?”

“You know I will. We can enjoy what we’re doing now
and
sav
e
the best part for later.”

“Promise?”

“With all of my heart.
That’s what true love does
.
What we did earlier was just a peek into what will happen someday
.”
Gabby
pressed her lips to BrookLyn’s and kissed her deeply as they sank to the bottom of the pool, entangled as one. They went under the water and stayed wrapped in each other’s bodies as long as BrookLyn could hold her breath.
Within a few minutes
,
she
floated alone back to the top of the water
.
Gabby waved at her
teasingly
from the bottom of the pool
,
but joined her a few seconds later
, as BrookLyn shook the water out of her ears
.

C
hapter
Seven

Is this a cruel fantasy?
The next morning
BrookLyn
woke up wondering
if this
—
if
Gabby
was really for
her
.
Was her
amazing love
-
filled weekend real or
was she
just lost somewhere in
her
imagination.
It was a very active imagination, one that BrookLyn often used to escape
the
suffering
that
her
parents caused. It kept
her distracted
from feeling the pain that
threatened to overwhelm her at every turn.
Maybe that’s where I spent my
entire
weekend instead of at Gabby’s house.

She
turned over
,
and
her
answer was thrust upon
her
as
she
inhaled the delicious smell of Gabby lying next to
her
.
Either this
was very real
,
or
her
imagin
ation was getting really good.
BrookLyn
breathed deeply
, inhaling the
sweet smell that
she
couldn’t explain
.
It was
just
Gabby’s
natural scent
, but
if
BrookLyn
could bottle it,
she
would.